Methods and apparatus for scheduling time sensitive operations among independent processors

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for scheduling time sensitive operations among independent processors. In one embodiment, an application processor (AP) determines transmission timing parameters for a baseband processor (BB). Thereafter, the AP can generate and transact generic time-sensitive real-time transport protocol (RTP) data with the BB in time for transmission via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication stack. In this manner, the AP's scheduler can coordinate/accommodate digital audio tasks within the context of its other tasks (e.g., to enable intelligent sleep and wake-up operation, load balancing, memory usage, and/or any number of other processor management functions).

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for scheduling time sensitive operations among two or more independently operable processors, comprising:
 obtaining, at a first independently operable processor, scheduling parameters from a wireless network apparatus of a wireless network via a second independently operable processor; 
 receiving, at the first independently operable processor, a synchronization signal from the second independently operable processor; 
 generating, on the first independently operable processor, one or more transactions for a time sensitive application performed at least partially over the wireless network, based on the scheduling parameters obtained from the wireless network apparatus and the received synchronization signal; and 
 providing the one or more transactions to the second independently operable processor via a shared transaction protocol. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising operating the first independently operable processor independently of the second independently operable processor, the independently operating comprising operating the first independently operable processor within a first clock domain and operating the second independently operable processor within a second clock domain, the second clock domain differing from the first clock domain. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising executing an operating system (O/S) and one or more applications on the first independently operable processor, and causing the second independently operable processor to connect to the wireless network. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the obtaining of the scheduling parameters comprises obtaining an uplink and downlink transmission schedule timing for the wireless network. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the receiving of the synchronization signal comprises receiving an out-of-band general purpose input output (GPIO) edge signal transmitted by the second independently operable processor. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the receiving of the synchronization signal comprises receiving an in-band doorbell signal transmitted by the second independently operable processor. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generating of the one or more transactions comprises executing a digital audio codec to generate the one or more transactions. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the generating of the one or more transactions for the time sensitive application comprises placing a voice call over a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the shared transaction protocol comprises supporting multiple real-time applications with a real time transport protocol (RTP). 
     
     
       10. A user apparatus, comprising:
 a first independently operable processor apparatus configured to execute an operating system (O/S) and one or more applications; 
 a second independently operable processor apparatus configured to communicate with a wireless network; 
 an inter-processor communication (IPC) link coupled to the first independently operable processor apparatus and the second independently operable processor apparatus; and 
 a non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising one or more instructions that when executed by the first independently operable processor apparatus, cause the first independently operable processor apparatus to:
 obtain scheduling parameters from a wireless network apparatus of the wireless network via the second independently operable processor apparatus; 
 receive a synchronization signal associated with the second independently operable processor apparatus; 
 generate one or more transactions for a time sensitive application performed at least partially over the wireless network, based on the scheduling parameters obtained from the wireless network apparatus and the received synchronization signal; and 
 provide the one or more transactions to the second independently operable processor apparatus via a shared transaction protocol and the IPC link. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The user apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the generation of one or more transactions for the time sensitive application comprises execution of a virtualized task by the second independently operable processor apparatus. 
     
     
       12. The user apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the execution of the virtualized task by the second independently operable processor apparatus comprises execution of a digital audio codec for a cellular network application. 
     
     
       13. The user apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the cellular network application comprises a voice call. 
     
     
       14. The user apparatus of  claim 10 , further comprising a second non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising one or more instructions that when executed by the second independently operable processor apparatus, cause the second independently operable processor apparatus to:
 determine the scheduling parameters based on a wireless network schedule; and 
 wherein the wireless network schedule is associated with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network. 
 
     
     
       15. The user apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the second non-transitory computer readable apparatus further comprises additional instructions that when executed by the second independently operable processor apparatus, cause the second independently operable processor apparatus to:
 transmit the one or more transactions to the LTE cellular network; 
 wherein the one or more transactions comprise real-time transport protocol (RTP) packets comprising digital audio data. 
 
     
     
       16. A first independently operable processor apparatus configured to execute an operating system (O/S) and one or more applications, the first independently operable processor apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer readable apparatus comprising one or more instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 obtain, at the first independently operable processor apparatus, scheduling parameters from a wireless network apparatus of a wireless network via a second independently operable processor apparatus; 
 receive, at the first independently operable processor apparatus, a synchronization signal associated with the second independently operable processor apparatus; 
 prioritize a virtualized task associated with the second independently operable processor apparatus with at least one task associated with the one or more applications; and 
 based on the prioritization, generate one or more transactions for the virtualized task based on the obtained scheduling parameters and the received synchronization signal. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The first independently operable processor apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the virtualized task comprises a time sensitive task. 
     
     
       18. The first independently operable processor apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the time sensitive task comprises execution of a software digital audio codec. 
     
     
       19. The first independently operable processor apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the generation of the one or more transactions comprises generation of one or more real-time transport protocol (RTP) packets. 
     
     
       20. The first independently operable processor apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the prioritization of the time sensitive task is based on the obtained scheduling parameters.